The Dispatch E-Edition

All current subscribers have full access to Digital D, which includes the E-Edition and
unlimited premium content on Dispatch.com, BuckeyeXtra.com, BlueJacketsXtra.com and
DispatchPolitics.com.
Subscribe
today!

INDIANAPOLIS — By 12:37 p.m. yesterday, Graham Rahal’s weekend of angst was over. He had
qualified for his sixth Indianapolis 500.

“Nice job, babe,” his father and team co-owner Bobby Rahal told him by radio as his car screamed
down the last 300 yards of the four-lap qualifying run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

A souring Honda engine on Saturday — when the run for the pole and the top 24 spots in the
33-car field were determined — relegated Graham Rahal to second-day qualifier. As it turned out, he
was the second-fastest yesterday (225.007 mph), behind Josef Newgarden (225.731) of the Sarah
Fisher-Hartman Racing team, and will start 26th in Sunday’s race.

Rahal’s team found the solution courtesy of a new Honda engine installed overnight. But Rahal
Letterman Lanigan Racing, which saw James Jakes qualify on Saturday, didn’t find the solution for
veteran Michel Jourdain Jr., who was trying to make the race in a one-off basis like he did last
year. Handling problems plagued his car all week, and even test runs with Graham Rahal at the wheel
yesterday couldn’t solve it.

“We could not make it go fast enough,” an emotional Jourdain said after climbing from his car
with 10 minutes to go in qualifying without taking a shot .

That took Katherine Legge, the slowest qualifier at 223.176 mph, off the bubble, and meant there
will be four women in the race, including Simona De Silvestro, Ana Beatriz and Pippa Mann.

Another driver making the field on the final day was Buddy Lazier, who won the race in 1996 and
will be making his first start since 2008. That means there will be four former winners in this
year’s event, including three-time winners Dario Franchitti and Helio Castroneves, and Scott
Dixon.

But things seemed more intense on Saturday, when Rahal and Newgarden were bumped from the
first-day limit of 24 qualifiers, adding to what Rahal called “a trying week.” Without the limit,
both likely would have been safely in the field of 33, which meant the drama was somewhat
manufactured.

“I completely agree, there is so much drama around this 24 deal,” Newgarden said. “It probably
would be different if there (were) 50 cars trying to qualify for this race. … But the format is
what it is.

“The only thing that’s negative from it is it did probably create some false drama, like, ‘
Hopefully, you guys make the show on Sunday.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, I think we’ll be OK.’ ”

Stirring the family feud

Graham Rahal was asked about the cachet his family name carries at the Indianapolis 500, since
his father won the race as a driver 1986 and as an owner in 2004.

As Graham answered, his response morphed into a shot at the Andrettis. The families’ rivalry
goes back to when Bobby Rahal was competing against first Mario Andretti and then his son Michael
on the track.

“The Rahal name, it’s a nice perk around here,” Graham said. “Certainly don’t get the pressure
that an Andretti does, by any means. We’d love to be the — how many father-son combos have won it?
One, I think the Unsers (three-time winner Al Sr. and two-time winner Al Jr.)?

“Andretti can’t do that. So that would be one more we’ve got on them.”

Mario Andretti won the 1969 race, but Michael never won despite some close calls, and neither
has Michael’s son Marco, who will start third and on the front row on Sunday.